We had our last worship service with our home congregation yesterday morning. It was a morning that was absolutely filled with encouragement and love. We had so many hugs and well wishes before Bible class even began and that alone was a steadying thing. Jonathan taught the Bible class and was able to do a presentation on our MSOP adventure. He talked mainly about why we are going, what it will be like for us there, and what will happen after he finishes up with preaching school. For his application essay he had written an equation that he called Desire + Ability + Need= Willingness to go. The desire portion is simple enough to understand, he has the desire to go and receive training that is needed in order for him to switch from being a business analyst writing and reviewing design plans for business cases for a fortune 100 company (among other things) to being a preacher of the gospel being able to teach and preach God's word. The ability part refers to skills that he has already developed. In the work environment he has done copious amounts of writing, teaching, and presenting. In our home congregation he has had the opportunity to teach the senior high Bible class for the past four years as well as doing short devotionals and occasional sermons so he already knew that the basic skills are in place to help him to be successful. Need is quite self explanatory as well. There is a need for people to be willing to teach the gospel and stand for the truth. Not only can a preacher reach lost souls but he can also uplift and encourage the congregation and strengthen them so that they can remain faithful. How could we not be willing to go with all of these things in place? He did such a good job with his presentation and answered so many questions that people had about our going to Memphis.
Yesterday was Fathers' Day and our children from the age of 9 to 18 were also leaving for camp so there wasn't enough time in the afternoon to be able to do a light finger foods fellowship as a send off for us as we generally might do when a family is leaving the area. We were not forgotten by any stretch of the imagination though and I think the way that our send off happened might have even been more special. During the opening prayer a special prayer was said for many things including for us and we were prayed for individually by name (all six of us!). Our song leader for the month of June sang two songs that are favorites of ours...Magnificat and The Greatest Command. Our minister mentioned us before his sermon and then afterward we were presented with a lovely basket full of small gifts. We received cards with money to help with our upcoming travel expenses. We received a grocery gift card to stock our kitchen when we arrive. We received snacks to eat on our eleven hour drive. We received fun games and activity books to help to entertain the children on the drive. We could not be more grateful for the outpouring of love from our brothers and sisters in Christ. During some of the stressful times ahead (exam weeks!) we will be able to look back on our send off and remember that we have a ton of people who love us and are rooting for us back home.
As I looked around our congregation of around 130 yesterday morning I saw faces that were dear to me filling every pew. My eyes lingered on some of our elderly people that we love because I fear that some of them may not be still there when we return later for visits. I studied the faces of children who are close friends to my own children and found it a little easier to be patient as they played in the lobby and halls for this last time for months. I made sure to store in my memory bank my little four year old daughter sitting on the lap of her "adopted grandmother", as she does every week and worried just a little about how she will feel this next week as we sit in a strange congregation to her without the two sweet ladies that she loves to sit with. I was sad that some faces that are dear to me weren't present in the audience because of cancer treatments and other sickness. I smiled to see families that I love sitting together and worshiping God together. I listened closely to the singing, knowing that a week from now that I will miss these voices that I am used to hearing as they praise God. I soaked in that sermon, realizing that it is the last time for many months that I will get to hear our preacher speaking. It was a lovely service but it was difficult in some ways it was hard, just as saying goodbye to our loved family and friends has been. We are blessed to be a part of a congregation full of Barnabas's though...encouragement all around us.
We are strengthened, fortified, and lifted up. We have family still to say goodbye to this week, we have appointments still to keep, we have packing and loading still to do, and we have the drive ahead of us. But we are excited and energized and so ready to begin this next adventure. We have four days left in our beautiful home in the valley between the mountains and then we will head to flat west Tennessee to a time that we have already been looking forward to for a year. We are a little more ready than we were just days ago because of the love shown to us yesterday. We are thankful that no matter where we go we are part of the Lord's Church and we know that we will have love shown to us in Memphis as well.
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